Corbato & Project MAC
Going by the name Corby Corbato, Fernando J Corbato was born in July 1926 and completed his Ph.D. in physics from the MIT (Massachusetts Institution of Technology). He then participated in MIT's computation center right after and worked as a school professor until his retirement. Among his multiple recognition and awards for his work as a computer scientist, the A.M. Turning Award in 1990 was of the highest rank.
He is the man whose work on introducing computer time-sharing (allowing multiple access to one device) in the 1960s has brought us to the day we have something called a personal computer. It is justified to say that he has majorly impacted our daily lives in the age of computers by expanding the utility of the device and keeping its benefits up for grabs. He was interested in increasing simultaneous access to the computer system, but protecting individual data and privacy was also a concern. Thus, he conceived and applied the idea of passwords to control computer access.
Project MAC
In 1963, Corby was one of the Project's founding members on Mathematics & Computation (Project MAC) at MIT. Financially backed by National Science Foundation and U.S Defence Department's ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), Project MAC's exploration became a solid base for present-day computer networking and online collaboration. The aim of this Project was to permit multiple users from varied locations to access the programs of one machine.
The Project's first accomplishment was to provide and expand hardware for Corby's 1961 CTSS (compatible time-sharing system) software, which essentially allowed multiple access to run centrally-located programs on one computer. Corby and the ARPA team lead were convinced that CTSS would help negate smaller individual computers' employment, reduce cost, save time, and enhance efficiency. In only half a year into Project MAC creation, 200 users in ten separate MIT departments were allowed access into one system.
Multics
In 1969, the development of Multiplexed Information & Computing Service aka Multics, by the joint efforts of Bell Laboratories, General Electric and Project MAC, showed evolution into an online computer system and incorporated features like system security, file share and management into the design. With this complex system, up to 300 simultaneous users were allowed access into one system from one thousand MIT terminals.
Transformation of Project MAC
In another seven years, i.e., 1976, broadening its focus, the Project became its standalone interdepartmental laboratory at MIT. In addition to developing increasingly intelligent programs to run on the system, the lab considered developing user-friendly & cost-effective computer devices to encourage computer use.
In an attempt to advance the computer's role, they began exploring theory-based footing in computer science that could explain the limitations on time and space. Furthermore, to promote online computing in academic fields like biology, medicine, library sciences and architecture, LCS started focussing on creating specific applications. Following such advancements, by 2004, LCS merged with MIT's AI Lab to become the most extensive research laboratory at the campus called the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).